California Supreme Court approves NextGen bar exam beginning in July 2028

The California Supreme Court on Wednesday approved the State Bar's recommendation to replace the current General Bar Examination with the National Conference of Bar Examiners' NextGen Uniform Bar Exam beginning with the July 2028 administration.

The order also directs the Committee of Bar Examiners to develop a California-specific test component to accompany the NextGen exam beginning with the July 2029 administration. The committee must submit its proposal to the court by Feb. 26, 2027.

The Supreme Court also ordered that the new examination maintain a passing standard equivalent to the current scaled passing score of 1,390 out of 2,000 points.

According to the court's order, the California-specific component also would serve as the Attorneys' Examination for qualifying attorney applicants. If ultimately approved, it would test California law, potentially including subjects currently covered on the General Bar Examination as well as California employment and family law.

The Committee of Bar Examiners will determine how the California-specific component will be scored, including how it will be integrated with the NextGen examination and the overall passing score for the General Bar Examination.

The court said the General Bar Examination will continue to be administered in person on the last Tuesday of February and July each year. Applicants granted certain testing accommodations may receive modifications to the length of testing sessions, the order of testing or the overall examination schedule.

State Bar of California Board of Trustees Chair José Cisneros and Committee of Bar Examiners Chair Alan Yochelson issued a statement welcoming the Supreme Court's decision. "The Board of Trustees and the Committee of Bar Examiners carefully evaluated various options and recommended moving to the NextGen UBE and a California component soon after, and we look forward to continuing our collaboration with the court as this work moves ahead," they said.